Find your local scheme

Schemes

A Neighbourhood Watch scheme can be set up in a street, group of streets, a block of flats, across a village, in a rural area or in partnership with a Residents Association – there are no hard and fast rules. What works for you will be fine with us, but we suggest that you try to keep it local and engage with neighbours and other local residents. It’s a good way of meeting people and making new friends!

You can easily check if there is an existing Neighbourhood Watch scheme nearby by entering your postcode in the box above.

If you would like to start a new Neighbourhood Watch scheme then click here.

A Neighbourhood Watch scheme is usually set up by a person who we call a co-ordinator – they are just a local point of contact. Their main role is to encourage local people to join the scheme, and then to forward key messages to the scheme members. Those messages will be sent to the co-ordinator by trusted agencies such as Neighbourhood Watch and the local police, amongst others. Increasingly, members can also receive messages direct, by signing themselves onto our system. There may be some members without E-mail access – where possible we hope that co-ordinators will be able to keep them up to date by passing on important information, perhaps by phone or by printing it out and popping it through their letterbox.

Some schemes may wish to have more than one co-ordinator, or to have one or more deputies, and we welcome this.

Additional information for members who are using our system

Our system is very secure and the same software is also used by many police forces. Your data is held securely and in accordance with Data Protection legislation.

If you choose to register your details with us then YOU will be in control of who can send you information (“Information providers”), what sort of messages you would like to receive, and even which local areas you would like to receive messages about. When you register with us you can choose or will be sent a user name and password, and you can change your password whenever you wish.

Additional information for co-ordinators and deputies

Existing schemes are progressively being mapped in our systems, and can be found by entering your postcode in the box above, or by visiting www.ourwatch.org.uk. Similarly, when a new scheme is set up we will help you to map it, to encourage new members to join.

If you enter your postcode above, you should find your scheme (and others nearby). You can click on it in the right column to view a more detailed map. Please note that no personal information about you is displayed on the public website, unless you tell the system to display it. If you click on the Coordinator login button below the map you can then sign in by entering your user name and password, and update any information you wish. However, please do NOT untick the box which enables you to receive messages from Neighbourhood & Home Watch Network, otherwise you will not receive any Neighbourhood Watch messages!

When registering you will also receive a “Welcome to the Member Administration Area” E-mail, which explains these options in more detail, and a “Thank you” welcoming message.

Our Alert system is perfectly happy to hold the details of every street member but it is entirely optional for members to register. Those without E-mail can register or be registered but they may not receive messages. You could take the view that if every co-ordinator is keeping a list of their members then they might as well keep that list on our very secure system. Co-ordinators can also message or forward messages to their members this way.

Probably the easiest way for your scheme members to register is to enter your scheme postcode as above, and then click on your scheme. On the next page scroll down and click on 'Apply to join', then follow the prompts.

Also on that page you will see another yellow box ‘Send a message’. This allows anybody to send the co-ordinator an E-mail on a blind basis, meaning that they will have no idea who the co-ordinator is. The co-ordinator will get a notification should that happen, and it is up to the co-ordinator how to respond.

Once they have completed registration they will receive a one-time E-mail message asking them to click a link to confirm that their E-mail address is valid. It is important that they do this as part of the security checks. If they don’t then they will cease receiving messages after 14 days, and instead they will receive reminders to verify their account details. However, they should NOT untick the box which enables them to receive messages from Neighbourhood & Home Watch Network, otherwise they will not receive any Neighbourhood Watch messages!

The co-ordinator will then receive a notification that somebody has applied to join their scheme. The co-ordinator needs to go to the scheme as above and click on the login button below the map, or click on the Menu button at the top right and then at the bottom right, click on Sign in. Then enter their user name or E-mail address plus password. Once logged in he/she can change anything they wish, but in this context there is an option to view who has applied to join your scheme, and you can select whether to allow them to join or not.

In some places we also have Neighbourhood Watch Area Co-ordinators. Each is a lead point of contact for a group of Neighbourhood Watch schemes, connecting and supporting Co-ordinators, local police and partners, actively involved in keeping their in keeping their area safe.